Virtual Reality Films Add New Dimension to Fight Against Polio

Rotary, with support from the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, produced a virtual reality film that tells the story of Alokita, a young adult who suffered paralysis from polio as a child growing up in India, which has been polio-free since 2011.

“When you open your eyes and see a different environment around you, you relate to the subject on a visceral, personal level,” says Vincent Vernet, direct of digital and publishing with Rotary’s communications team, who spearheaded the project. “The final push to end polio requires significant resources and emotional investment. This type of innovative technology has the potential to inspire that.”

Actress and polio ambassador Archie Panjabi introduces us to Alokita, part of the last generation of children to be affected by polio, and the doctors working to provide corrective surgery to survivors like her. Viewers are transported to India as soon as they put on the virtual reality headset, which transmits the 360-degree mix of sights and sounds. In this interactive environment, viewers roam the streets of Delhi and the halls of St. Stephen’s Hospital, home to India’s only polio ward, where Alokita takes her first steps in 11 years.

Source: By Sallyann Price, Rotary News, Rotary International    www.rotary.org